Tag: heart attack symptoms

The chest pain of angina comes in four flavours

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 45 Comments

woman angina

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

There are four main types of angina pectoris women should know about, no matter how you pronounce it: ‘anj-EYE-nuh’ in Canada or Australia, or ‘AN-gin-uh’ in the U.S.   This term is translated as “strangling in the chest”.

The chest pain called angina is not the same as a heart attack – but it can feel like one and can in fact lead to one. Here are the four types of angina you need to know:

  • Stable angina: Mayo Clinic cardiologists define this as any pain/discomfort between neck and navel that comes on with exertion and is relieved by rest. When you climb stairs, exercise or walk, your heart muscle demands more blood, but it’s harder for the muscle to get enough blood when your coronary arteries have become narrowed. Stable angina can also be triggered by emotional stress, cold temperatures, heavy meals, smoking or other activities that can narrow arteries. learn more about the other three types of angina

Heart attack – or an attack of heartburn?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 31 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I was sent home from the Emergency Room with a misdiagnosis of heartburn (despite presenting with textbook heart attack symptoms like chest pain, sweating, nausea and pain radiating down my left arm). This was just two weeks before finally being hospitalized with a newly revised diagnosis of  “significant heart disease” and myocardial infarction (heart attack) caused by a fully occluded left anterior descending coronary artery – the so-called “widowmaker” heart attack.

Heartburn has nothing to do with your heart; it’s a digestive problem. Acidic liquid from your stomach can back up into your esophagus where it inflames the lining. But symptoms can appear confusingly similar.

How to tell if you’re having a heart attack or just an attack of simple heartburn?

Here’s how heartburn may be markedly different from a cardiac event:

keep reading…

Monday morning heart attacks – and other weird facts about women’s heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 17 Comments
Many heart attacks hit around our birthdays
Heart attacks are more likely to happen around our birthdays

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Here are 20 surprises I’ve picked up along the way while researching other surprising things about women’s heart disease:

1.  The most common day of the week for a heart attack to occur is Monday.

2.  Saturday ranks second.

3.  Most heart attacks hit during the early morning hours between 4-10 a.m. when blood platelets are stickier and increased adrenaline released from the adrenal glands can trigger rupture of plaques in coronary arteries. Heart attacks occurring between 6 a.m. and noon were associated with the most damage, in a study reported in the cardiology journal Heart.

4.  Heart attacks are 27%  more likely to occur around your birthday, especially in women with high blood pressure (Yikes! I had my first heart attack symptoms at 6:30 a.m. on a Monday morning while out delivering thank you cards to friends who had attended my Saturday evening birthday party!)   click here to continue reading

Women fatally unaware of heart attack symptoms

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

woman dixie thinking

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

“Women spend more time thinking about their weight than they do about their hearts.”

Honey, if you experience a sudden upset stomach, crushing fatigue and shortness of breath, put down your phone. You could be having a heart attack.

Barely one third of Canadian women are aware that pain in the chest, arm, neck, jaw or back are not always the most common symptoms for a woman suffering a heart attack – the #1 killer of women in Canada.

In fact, 43% of women report unusual fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting during a cardiac event – but NOT chest pain.(1)

A 2008 Canadian study of women over 40 called the LIPSTICK Survey reported that women spend more time thinking about their weight than they do about their hearts. Only 10% of women surveyed knew their personal LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol levels, versus the 64% of women who know how much they weighed in high school.  Continue reading “Women fatally unaware of heart attack symptoms” →